Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music lecturer Kim Kirkman has been recognised as an 'Outstanding Professional' at the recent Arts Queensland, Art Is In Art Awards.

Mr Kirkman's award was in recognition of his outstanding community service through the musical direction of the 2005 performance of the 'Proms' (Mackay Choral Society), 'The Messiah' (December 2005) and the '4MK Community Christmas Carols by Candlelight'.

Mr Kirkman has been in Mackay for just 2 years.

“It was great to receive an award for my work in the Mackay region and I’m looking forward to doing more projects in the area,” he said.

The lecturer has a busy second half of year planned in continuing his musical and artistic endeavours in the Mackay region.

He will be directing two more productions with the Choral Society, The ‘Gondoliers’ in August and ‘Faure’s Requiem’ in December.

He is also gearing up for his release of his CD ‘Sounds of Mackay’ at the Festival of Arts in Mackay in July and will again Direct the '4MK Christmas Carols by Candlelight' at the end of the year.

In between now and then, Mr Kirkman will also be helping the students of the Con put together their production of Jeff Wayne’s ‘War of the Worlds’.

The Art Is In Awards aim to annually recognise Art and Art groups within our region to ensure artistic accomplishments receive the attention and recognition that they deserve.

Nominations for the awards, which started 4 years ago, are open to the public and are submitted to Mackay City Council. A committee of judges distribute the awards and honourable mentions to the best deserving individuals and groups.

Recognised also in the awards were the CQCM jazz ensembles, currently on a Queensland tour with Vince Jones. They received an honourable mention for their outstanding community and educational project through their collaborative work with universities of Richmond and Louisville.

Photo above: CQCM lecturer, Kim Kirkman looking forward to working on more Arts projects in the region.